18 Facts About Andreas Reize

Andreas Reize was born on 19 May 1975 and is a Swiss organist and conductor, with a focus on opera and choral conducting.

Andreas Reize was appointed Thomaskantor on 11 September 2021, becoming the 18th director of music to take charge of the world famous Thomanerchor at Leipzig in succession to Johann Sebastian Bach.

Andreas Reize was a long-term member of the Singknaben der St Ursenkathedrale Solothurn.

Andreas Reize studied church music at the Hochschule der Kunste Bern and the Musikhochschule Zurich, achieving master's degrees in piano pedagogy and concert organ playing.

Andreas Reize studied organ and harpsichord at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis from 1999 to 2002, followed by studies of orchestral conducting at the Musikhochschule Luzern.

Andreas Reize took post-graduate studies in conducting at Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz and with Johannes Prinz in Vienna, completed in 2006 with distinction.

Andreas Reize attended master classes with Anders Eby, Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink and Ralf Weikert, among others, and was especially influenced in meetings with Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Opernhaus Zurich and the Styriarte festival.

Andreas Reize founded the group Cantus Firmus Vokalensemble und Consort in 2001, and the chamber choir Cantus Firmus Kammerchor in 2006.

Andreas Reize became musical director of the Oper Schloss Waldegg in 2006, where his ensembles performed and recorded Rousseau's Le Devin du Village and Handel's Apollo e Dafne.

Andreas Reize conducted at Theater Biel-Solothurn Rameau's Zais and Purcells's Dido and Aeneas.

Andreas Reize conducted as a guest at the Nationaltheater Mannheim, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich and the Schweizer Kammerchor.

Andreas Reize was artistic director of the Singknaben der St Ursenkathedrale Solothurn from 2007 to 2021.

Andreas Reize expanded their repertoire by contemporary music, such as choreographed pop songs for SKJF, a festival of Swiss children's choirs and youth choirs.

From 2011 to 2021, Andreas Reize conducted the Gabrielichor in Bern, an ensemble specialised in music for several choirs, including the Marienvesper settings by Rovetta and Rosenmuller, and Monteverdi's Vespers.

Andreas Reize was director of the Zurcher Bach Chor from 2011 to 2021, conducting a repertoire from Renaissance to contemporary, in both orchestral concerts as especially a cappella.

On 18 December 2020, Andreas Reize was designated by the Leipzig city council as Thomaskantor, the 18th in the position after Johann Sebastian Bach, as the first Swiss and the first Catholic since the Reformation.

Andreas Reize took office on 11 September 2021, performing in the afternoon Bach's cantata Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99, with the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhausorchester in the Motette series.

Andreas Reize converted to the Lutheran Church, to be a member of the congregation.